Remembering

This year at Christmas we remember a beloved husband, stepfather, grandfather and friend. Bob was born in Charleston, Illinois. After high school, he enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps and was stationed in San Diego, California. He made Fountain Hills, Arizona, his lifelong home along with a summer home in Springfield, Illinois. He was a […]

After battling breast cancer for five years, my wife and one true love of 22 years lo st her fight with this horrific disease. Lisa was kind, caring and giving, and she cared deeply about people. After working in social services for over 25 years, she changed careers to become a licensed esthetician and owner […]

It’s hard for me to call Dave Shaw anything other than Mr. Shaw. Even as our orbits continued to collide during my adulthood, he was always my teacher. His classroom moved around the Rochester High School campus during seemingly endless renovations. Regardless of his location – a trailer, a garage – Mr. Shaw’s classroom was […]

Bob was a self-proclaimed hippie who wore his hair long, loved fishing and sci-fi, supported live music and the arts, and told you exactly what he thought about politics, human rights and marijuana legalization. He was a gifted computer programmer and musician who mentored a blended family and many friends freely and willingly. Music defined […]

Throughout this year we have all witnessed the loss of loved ones and others who have touched our hearts in ways we might not have imagined. For many of us within the Springfield area – with emphasis on the Black community – one of those great losses was that of Elizabeth Alexander. Born Elizabeth Geraldine […]

If Adams Street had a mayor, Mark Kessler qualified. Genial? Could be, depending on circumstance. Genuine? Always. Shrewd? In spades, and bridge. As co-owner of Recycled Records, Kessler could, gently, tell a hopeful customer that her late grandfather’s trove of Terry Baxter LP’s might be best off at Goodwill. He was sharp with the sketchy, […]

After battling breast cancer for five years, my wife and one true love of 22 years lost her fight with this horrific disease. Lisa was kind, caring and giving, and she cared deeply about people. After working in social services for over 25 years, she changed careers to become a licensed esthetician and owner of […]

On Aug. 23, my siblings and I lost our mother, who was 97 years old. Although she was an only child and raised by a single parent, she and our father had nine children. It wasn’t until after Dad’s death in 1989 that we realized who the real source of strength was in the family. […]

Mike Zimmers was a giant among the teachers and administrators he mentored, the junior high students he taught and, most of all, the kindergarteners he tutored. At 6 foot, 6 inches tall, he towered over most everyone he met. But among his peers, his stature wasn’t measured in inches but in his keen intellect and […]

Mary “Ma” Cookson was a legend. She was, in a very real sense, the matriarch for a great many years to the many haggard spirits who came in search of a hot meal served with kindness and hospitality at the St. John’s Breadline in Springfield. Working as a cook at a soup kitchen was no […]

Leo married the love of his life, Sharon, when he was 17 and she was 16. Together they raised one son and four daughters. He was a wonderful father and husband. At one time, he worked three jobs to make ends meet. He retired from CWLP in 1995 at the age of 57. He had […]

Lots of young men dream of living the life of a rock star, but few ever achieve the status necessary to qualify for that exalted position in our society. Those that do and make it to the big time are few and far between. Our late friend Micky Shomidie did it on his own terms, […]